Prosocial behavior involves voluntary actions intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, or comforting. This study explores how belief in a just world—the perception that the world is fundamentally fair – relates to such behaviors.
Liu, C., Fan, W., Tan, Q., Yun, K., & Huang, W. (2025). The relationship between belief in a just world and prosocial behavior: The role of psychological resilience and empathic capacity. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1520451. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1520451
Key Points
- Belief in a Just World (BJW) significantly enhances prosocial behavior directly and indirectly through psychological resilience (PR).
- Empathic Capacity (EC) acts as a moderator between BJW and PR, particularly strengthening this relationship among individuals with lower EC.
- The indirect effect of BJW on prosocial behavior tendency (PBT) through PR is more pronounced for individuals with lower empathic capacity.
- Interventions aimed at enhancing prosocial behavior need to consider individual differences in empathic capacity for maximum effectiveness.
Rationale
Prosocial behavior, encompassing altruistic acts beneficial to others, has been linked to positive outcomes such as improved mental health, social cohesion, and community resilience.
Belief in a Just World, the cognitive assumption that the world is fundamentally fair, shows varied relationships with prosocial behaviors, suggesting complex underlying psychological mechanisms.
Psychological resilience, the capability to successfully adapt to adversity, and empathic capacity, the skill to understand and resonate with others’ emotions, independently relate positively to prosocial tendencies.
Addressing these gaps, the current study examines the mediating role of resilience and moderating effect of empathy among Chinese university students, who experience unique pressures due to rapid socio-economic transformations.
Method
The study utilized moderated mediation analyses using validated psychometric scales to measure Belief in a Just World, psychological resilience, prosocial behavior tendency, and empathic capacity among participants.
Procedure
- Participants completed comprehensive online surveys.
- Surveys consisted of standardized BJW, PR, PBT, and EC questionnaires.
- Participants were fully informed about ethical considerations, voluntary participation, and confidentiality.
- Participants received a small stationery gift as a token of appreciation for their involvement.
Sample
The sample consisted of 955 Chinese university students (average age of 19.5 years; 65.6% female) from diverse academic disciplines and class years, representative of the general student population.
Measures
- Prosocial Tendencies Measure (PTM): assesses various types of prosocial behavior including altruism, compliance, and emotional responsiveness.
- Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS): evaluates the extent individuals perceive fairness and justice in the world.
- Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC): measures psychological resilience across dimensions like emotional control and positive cognition.
- Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI): assesses empathic capacity through multiple dimensions, including perspective-taking and empathic concern.
Statistical Measures
Statistical analyses employed SPSS and the PROCESS macro for moderated mediation. Confirmatory factor analyses validated the measurement scales, and bootstrapping techniques were used to test indirect effects robustly.
Results
- Hypothesis 1 (BJW predicts PBT directly): Supported; BJW showed a significant direct positive relationship with PBT.
- Hypothesis 2 (PR mediates BJW-PBT relationship): Supported; BJW positively predicted PR, which in turn significantly increased PBT.
- Hypothesis 3 (EC moderates BJW-PR relationship): Supported; lower empathic capacity heightened the strength of BJW’s influence on PR.
- Hypothesis 4 (EC moderates the indirect effect): Supported; the indirect relationship between BJW and PBT through PR was stronger in those with lower empathic capacity.
Insight
The study highlights psychological resilience as a crucial mediator, particularly for individuals with lower empathic capacity, suggesting a compensatory mechanism where resilience can offset lower empathy levels to maintain prosocial behaviors.
This finding extends existing research by demonstrating distinct resource pathways that integrate cognitive beliefs with emotional competencies, advocating future longitudinal and cross-cultural research.
Implications
Practitioners can leverage these findings by customizing interventions to individual empathic profiles.
For lower empathic individuals, interventions focusing on enhancing psychological resilience and cognitive belief structures may be most effective.
For individuals with higher empathy, interventions might focus on advanced empathic training and emotional regulation strategies.
Policymakers and educators should develop nuanced prosocial development programs that match intervention strategies with empathic capacities to optimize societal and individual outcomes.
Strengths
This study had several methodological strengths, including:
- Large, diverse, and representative student sample enhances generalizability within the Chinese context.
- Rigorous moderated mediation analytical approach provides robust statistical evidence.
- Comprehensive psychometric instruments ensure valid and reliable measurement.
- Solid theoretical grounding using Conservation of Resources theory clarifies resource dynamics.
Limitations
This study also had several limitations, including:
- Self-report methods carry inherent risks of social desirability bias.
- Cross-sectional study design limits inference of causal relationships.
- Generalizability beyond Chinese students remains untested.
- Potential exclusion of other influential factors, such as personality traits or contextual variables.
Socratic Questions
- How might different cultural contexts alter the relationship dynamics between BJW, resilience, empathy, and prosocial behaviors?
- In what ways might a longitudinal approach enhance understanding of causality within these psychological constructs?
- What methodological alternatives could complement self-report measures to improve data accuracy and objectivity?
- How could personality traits further clarify interactions among BJW, resilience, and empathic capacity in shaping prosocial behaviors?
- What are the practical challenges in implementing individualized empathic capacity-based interventions in educational and organizational contexts?
